Perhaps I'm in Denial...

I've recently begun a crocheting a sock for my husband. I'm using a yarn called MadelineTosh that we purchased at Gotham Fine Yarn. I love the way it feels and the way it works up. However, the hook size recommended for my project must be too small for my tight stitching. I've been finding it very difficult to get the hook through both plies of the yarn. So, in performing this back-loop-only slip stitch (blo sl st), I find myself only going through half the yarn with the hook.

Not to mention that this is my first time using slip stitch for something other than finishing a round. Not only that, I must also use the fingernail of my index finger to drag that loop onto the hook. And because of the variation in the yarn's color the stitches appear to blend together. The best part, however, is the point when I'm just about to get that hook through the loop (front to back) and suddenly the train rocks and my tracking for a viable stitch in which to insert the hook begins again.

So, just this morning a started using a larger hook. Now, everything looks great, I'm not increasing and decreasing by accident, I'm not catching just one ply of the yarn, the ribbing produced by the blo sl st is finally uniform and this cuff that begins the sock is a much more substantial height than the narrow strip I was making.

Now, it's quite possible that many of my problems could have been taken care of by a simple pair of reading glasses from the drugstore. However, my only search for a pair of glasses was before I got onto the train this morning. I priced them at the Duane Reade and $20.00 was way more than I was willing to spend. I'm sure that I could find cheaper reading glasses if I continued my search. I'm not interested though. You see, if I add a pair of reading glasses to the contact lenses I'm currently wearing, I will truly have to admit the onset of aging.

Besides, do you know how many crochet hooks I can get with twenty bucks?

Crochet as a Subway Sport? Sunday afternoon on the Uptown "1"

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

As a part of our New Year Weekend, my husband and I took our niece to the Lion Brand Studio, to choose the yarn for her "Carrie's Cap" from the Just Hats book. She chose "Medium Sky Blue" and "Deepest Brown." A beautiful color combination. Once we got on the uptown 1, I decided why not start now. As I finished the first round, I heard my husband telling our niece, "yes, people watch your uncle on the train every time he crochets." I looked up to see half the car watching me. I smiled, then I continued to work, but on finishing the second round I realized that I had made some errors. This is never a big deal to me, since I know I'm going to make mistakes, especially the first time I work a new a pattern.

However, my new friends were not nearly as accustomed to such disappointment. I inserted my hook into the point of crucial error and ripped all of the offending stitches to a chorus of disappointment from at least five voices (none of which belonged to my husband or our niece). The group sentiment was followed by one rider saying, "What a waste of stitches." I found myself tickled by the way I had become a one-man spectator sport on the train. One fellow rider said "Good luck," upon exiting the train. I love the way that a crochet project in my hands encourages others to say hello, ask what I'm doing, or even just to smile. Maybe in the coming months I'll challenge someone to a crochet-duel or a crochet-off. On your mark, slip knot, CROCHET!